The Ring Cycle | The Ring Cycle The Ring Cycle Information on The Ring Cycle including music recordings, events calendar, librettos, videos, and Richard Wagner's Autobiography Search for: You are here: Home / The Ring Cycle The Ring Cycle The Ring Cycle – Der Ring des Nibelungen – The Ring of the Nibelung Brunnhilde in flames The Ring Cycle is a common abbreviation for Der Ring des Nibelungen (English translation – The Ring of the Nibelung), by German composer Richard Wagner. The Ring of the Nibelung is made up of a cycle of four epic operas that if played consecutively would last for about 15 hours. Wagner wrote both the music and the libretto, taking his inspiration from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied (a 12th century German poem). The four operatic dramas are actually a trilogy with a prelude making up the fourth part. NOTE: Some people translate “Der Ring des Nibelungen” as “The Ring of the Nibelungs” but this is not correct.

In German the ‘-en’ ending of ‘Nibelungen’ and the article ‘des’ preceding it denotes the possessive (genitive) case making the correct translation to be Nibelung in English and not Nibelungs. Brunnhilde the Valkyrie In chronological order of the events contained in each opera, The Ring of the Nibelung consists of – Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) – Prelude Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) – First Day of the Trilogy Siegfried (Siegfried) – Second Day of the Trilogy Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) – Third Day of the Trilogy As well as being an epic production in its own right, Der Ring des Nibelungen was also an epic in writing taking Wagner about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874 to complete. Each opera can stand on its own but the authors intention was that they be performed as a series. Wagner worked on and off again on the Ring during the twenty-six years between when it was first started and when it was completed.

He wrote the poems of the four operas in the late 1840s and early 1850s; the music for Das Rheingold in 1853–54, that for Die Walküre in 1854–56; and in 1856–57 Wagner composed, though he did not score, the first two acts of Siegfried. However, at this point in time he took a break from The Ring for twelve years, in order to concentrate on Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. It was always in his mind to complete The Ring and in 1869 he got back to work on the epic again. Despite the long break his enthusiasm and inspiration had not diminished. He completed Siegfried between 1869–74 as well as Götterdämmerung. The first performance of Das Rheingold was in Munich on 22 September 1869, and it took until 13 August 1876 before it was performed as part of the complete Ring cycle at Bayreuth – where it is still performed today.

Today we can enjoy performances of the Wagner Ring Cycle as both live performances by world famous opera houses, or as high quality recordings on CD and DVD . In addition there are modern translations of Wagner’s libretto that make it easy to follow the storyline and understand the plot. The passage of time has confirmed Wagner’s “Der Ring Des Nibelungen” as one of the classic operas of all time, and although it may not enjoy the heights of popularity it enjoyed before World War 1, it still attracts sold out houses wherever it is performed in the world today. If you cannot find something on this page, Search Google Search for: Wagner's Ring Cycle: where to start | Wagner - Classic FM Classic FM Become a VIP Wagner's Ring Cycle: where to start Richard Wagner 's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen', otherwise known as The Ring cycle, is the peak of operatic indulgence, excess and excellence. But how do you go about it? What should you listen out for? And what on Earth are they all singing about anyway? Find out with our handy guide. The Ring - it's immense. Long, dense, mythological and, to top it all off, in German.

The worst thing you could do, though, is be intimidated by it. Just because Richard Wagner 's masterpiece and calling card is a mammoth work (or series of works) doesn't mean you should treat it any differently from other operas. The best thing to do is take it slowly, grab a translation and prepare to get lost in some of the most intoxicatingly sublime Romantic music ever composed, like this… But first, a little bit of background info. Der Ring des Nibelungen (usually known simply as The Ring cycle) is essentially four very big operas, all linked together by the same story. In order, they are: Das Rheingold , Die Walküre , Siegfried and Götterdämmerung . There's no real way of paraphrasing that story without missing most of it out but to put in simple terms it's a bit like this… The Story A magic ring is stolen from the dwarf, Alberich, by Wotan, King of the Gods. However, he ends up having it taken from him by two giants - most of the story is about Wotan trying to get it back.

Then there's a whole other section about Wotan's grandson, Siegfried, who ends up getting the ring back, and Brünnhilde, Siegfried's lover, who also turns out to be Wotan's daughter (are you keeping up?). But these are just the main points - it's actually much easier than you'd think to keep up with the story, as long as you've got a translation handy or if you're watching a subtitled version. And the Sydney Symphony Orchestra have also put together this easy-to-follow(ish) video: Wagner took around 26 years to complete the whole thing, and it's easy to see why. There are all sorts of little interesting corners, quirky sub-plots, massive staging considerations and, above all, the incredible music. Wagner's idea was that it should be a 'Gesamtkunstwerk' ('Complete Artwork'), a complete synthesis of music and drama where you didn't focus on one or the other - they just co-exist. But how did he do it? Well, here are some tricks he used: What's a leitmotif?

Many of the characters, places and ideas in The Ring Cycle have their very own signature tune, or Leitmotif . Rather than an excuse to eat up composing time, the Leitmotifs act as a reminder about those characters, and Wagner occasionally changes them slightly to change how you feel about who it's representing. So for Siegfried, the hero, we have this rather nice Leitmotif: But for the two giants who take the ring from Wotan, Fafner and Fasolt, there's a rather more lumbering, threatening Leitmotif: And here's one for a storm, summoned by Donner, the God of Thunder. Obviously. There are dozens more to explore besides these two, and it's great fun to get to know them so you can anticipate a character's appearance in the drama. It's all designed to involve the listener even more and without them even realising. Extra instruments Unsurprisingly, a convincing performance of The Ring cycle needs some pretty serious orchestral clout. That means a lot of extra instruments.

So, alongside the usual orchestral instruments, you'll hear tam-tams, Wagner tubas, anvils (18 of them), steerhorns and all sorts of extra on-stage instruments too. Here's a fantastic anvil-eye view of the offstage anvils during Die Walküre from the Manchester International Festival: Isn't it all a bit complicated? We can't deny that The Ring cycle is a challenge for any listener, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go. As with so many things in opera , you get out what you put in - if you make the effort, then it's a joy to experience. If you're lucky enough to watch it live (it's often performed over four consecutive nights) then you're in for a real treat - incredible sets, wonderful music, bonkers storylines… and all for just one little bit of jewellery.

Oh, and there's this war-film-inspiring gem at the beginning Die Walküre as well: Wagner's Ring Cycle - The Epic Ring Des Nibelungen Wagner's Ring Cycle The Epic Ring Des Nibelungen Wagner's Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen in German) is an epic four-opera story, magically illustrated by a breathtaking orchestral sound world... The composer tells the 16+ hour long story using a ridiculously huge orchestra, which he uses to captivate listeners with magical colors and ingenious storytelling devices. Wagner's Ring Cycle is incredibly important in the history of music. This is for a number of reasons: its massive scope and length, its philosophical ideas, and because it has very powerful and beautiful music. Wagner's idea was to have a three evening event, with a "preliminary" evening as well (to warm the audience up...). History of the Ring Cycle Wagner's Ring Cycle grew and grew out of a single idea. Wagner originally wanted to write a single opera called "The Death of Siegfried". He got the inspiration for this from Norse mythology and an ancient German epic called the "Nibelunglied".

He found that the story was getting too complex, however, and decided he need to add another opera in front to explain what was going on. But the same thing happened again, and he ended up adding two more operas in front of the first two (to explain the explanation!). The result was the text of the four-opera Ring Cycle. It took Wagner about 21 years after that to finish composing all the music for Der Ring des Nibelungen. To be fair though, he did take 12 years off while in the middle of writing Siegfried (the third opera)! Wagner envisioned a special opera house created especially to perform the Ring Cycle. He eventually designed and constructed the Bayreuth Festspielhaus , where the full Ring Cycle was premiered on August 13, 1876 . King Ludwig of Bavaria, being the Wagner fan that he was, ordered the first two operas of the Ring Cycle (Das Rheingold and Die Walkure) to be performed before Wagner had finished the other two. Wagner really didn't want this to happen, but the King's word was final! So Wagner kept it a secret when he finished Siegfried (no.3).

To understand more about the Ring cycle, it's worth having a look at the plot... The Gigantic Plot Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) The three Rhinemaidens are playing in the Rhine. Alberich (a dwarf, the Nibelung of the title) lusts after them, but they reject him. Alberich is pretty angry, so he gives up on love altogether and steals the Rhinemaidens gold, planning to use it to create an all powerful ring and dominate the world. Later, Wotan (the leader of the gods) descends to earth and kidnaps Alberich and the ring, to pay off two giants (Fasolt and Fafner) who built the gods' shiny new castle Valhalla. I guess it's one way to pay the mortgage... Alberich puts a curse on the ring which dooms whoever it touches. The giants fight over it, and Fafner kills Fasolt. The gods then enter their new golden castle across a rainbow bridge in a spectacular finale, while the Rhinemaidens below lament the stolen gold. I really like this last scene.

Die Walkure (The Valkyrie) Siegmund (Wotan's son) is running from pursuers, weaponless. He stumbles into a house where Sieglinde and Hunding (a hunter) live. Hunding realizes that Siegmund is the man he was after, and tells him they must fight in the morning. Sieglinde, desperate, gives Hunding a sleeping potion and urges Siegmund to escape. The pair realize they are twins (Sieglinde is Wotan's daughter). Siegmund pulls an ancient sword out of the tree in the house, and claims Sieglinde as his bride (huh?). Wotan asks the Valkyrie Brunnhilde to protect Siegmund in the fight. Wotan's wife Fricka (goddess of all things marriage) appears and tells him he has to protect Hunding instead, otherwise his power will go. Wotan gets really frustrated, and sullenly tells Brunnhilde she has to protect Hunding instead. Brunnhilde meets Siegmund and is impressed by his bravery. She decides to help him instead and disobey Wotan.

Hunding and Siegmund fight, but Wotan appears and breaks Siegmund's sword. Hunding then slays Siegmund. Brunnhilde escapes with Sieglinde and the broken sword. Wotan then punishes Brunnhilde by putting her in a deep sleep surrounded by fire, to be the bride of whomever wakes her. Siegfried At the beginning of the third opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle, Alberich's brother the dwarf Mime (pronounces Me-meh) has raised Siegfried (Siegmund and Sieglinde's son) for 20 years in a cave in a forest. A mysterious Wanderer (just Wotan in disguise) arrives and plays a game of riddles with Mime. He then tricks the dwarf into planning to Siegfried to kill Fafner the giant, who's transformed into a dragon and is guarding a mountain of treasure. Mime persuades Siegfried to fight the dragon, and plans to poison Siegfried after he's won. Before the fight, Siegfried befriends a little forest bird. He tries to talk to it by making his own flute, but it doesn't work.

Siegfried encounters the dragon Fafner and kills him in a fun battle scene. When pulling out his sword from Fafner's body, he accidentally tastes the dragon's blood. This magically makes him able to talk to and understand the forest bird (I want some!). The bird warns him about Mime, and tells him about a beautiful woman high up on the rocks. Siegfried kills Mime and heads for the woman. He finds Brunnhilde, and wakes her with a kiss. The opera ends with their massive love duet. Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods) The last opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle begins exactly where the last one left off. The lovers, now more mature, sing about their love, then separate. Siegfried sails down the river Rhine in a scene with some amazing Wagnerian water music. He reaches the Gibichung's hall. There he meets Gunther, his sister Gutrune, and Hagen (Alberich's son). Hagen wants the ring, so he tricks Siegfried into drinking a love potion which makes him fall in love with Gutrune.

Siegfried now returns to Brunnhilde, using the Tarnhelmet to disguise himself as Gunther. He forces Brunnhilde to return to the Gibichung's hall and marry Gunther, so that Siegfried can marry Gunther's sister Gutrune. During the wedding, Brunnhilde realises that she has been betrayed by Siegfried, and is bent on vengeance. She tells Gunther that Siegfried was already married to her. Then she tells Hagen that Siegfried has a weak point on his back (since he would never turn and run from an enemy). Hagen arranges a hunting party and stabs Siegfried in the back with his spear. Here is where things get a bit crazy... Hagen kills Gunther after they fight about who gets the ring. Brunnhilde realizes that she and Siegfried were both tricked. She sets fire to Siegfried's funeral pyre, mounts her horse, and leaps into the raging flames. The Rhine river overflows while Valhalla bursts into flames.Hagen jumps into the Rhine after the ring, but the Rhinemaidens drown him and get the ring back. The End!

The Sublime Music Wagner's Ring Cycle has a reputation of being BIG! It's where the clichéd image of the fat opera singer with a horned helmet comes from. It's true that singers need superhuman amounts of power and stamina to perform the cycle, but that image isn't really true! Wagner's huge orchestra allows him to create a really wide range of orchestral colors, as well as make the music staggeringly heavy and rich. There are hundreds of different shades, moods, and feelings which Wagner creates in the Ring Cycle just using various combinations of instruments. Somehow he also evokes images of the action through the orchestra. For example, in the forging scene in Siegfried, the music seems to me to be fire, steam, metal, and hard toil. Leitmotifs Wagner's Ring Cycle has a massive system of leitmotifs (little melodic fragments which represent a person, place, idea, etc.). These all interconnect, blend, and transform to tell the story through music as well as drama. Sometimes the music even lets the audience know things the characters don't (like when Siegmund is talking about his unknown father, the orchestra plays the Wotan motif).

Here are some of the most important leitmotifs from Wagner's Ring Cycle: Siegfried the Hero: this noble theme represents Siegfried as a mighty hero. Siegfried's Horn Call: this is the energetic and adventurous fanfare which Siegfried plays on his horn. The Sword: this motif represents Siegfried's sword. The Curse: a powerful and scary theme which represents the fatal curse which Alberich put on the ring. Valhalla: a beautiful and solemn melody which depicts the glorious castle of the gods. Valkyrie: this warlike melody represents the Valkyries, who take dead heroes back to Valhalla for Wotan. Magic Fire Music: this theme represents Loge (the demi-god of fire) at first, but later on in the cycle Wagner uses it to represent the magic fire that surrounds Brunnhilde. Dragon: an evil-sounding theme, played in the bass, which depicts the massive and frightening dragon Fafner. Valkyrie: this warlike melody represents the Valkyries, who take dead heroes back to Valhalla for Wotan. Wotan: this strong motif depicts Wotan's spear and his power.

Here's an example of leitmotifs being combined to help tell the story: When Siegfried fights the dragon: Sword theme (Siegfried is fighting with his sword) + Siegfried's Horn Call (to illustrate his courage and enthusiasm) + Dragon (illustrating the dragon in battle): There are so many of these combinations and blendings that probably Wagner didn't know of them all (ok, maybe he did...). But I hope this shows you how fundamentally important the music of Wagner's Ring Cycle is to the story. Recordings One of my favorite recordings of Wagner's Ring Cycle is the 1966 Bayreuth recording conducted by Karl Bohm (the clips above are from this recording). I just love how well the singers fit their different roles, especially Wolfgang Windgassen as a youthful and energetic Siegfried (he could have had a little bit more power in his voice though), and Theo Adam as a noble and wise Wotan. Recommended. A First-Timer's Guide to Wagner's Ring This material © 1999 by Eric Rawlins. All rights reserved. The Story Wagner originally conceived of an opera to be called Siegfried's Death.

He began work on the project around 1850. As he worked on the poem, he expanded it to include a "prequel" to be called The Young Siegfried. Eventually even that wouldn't hold his story, and it ended up in its present form of 3 operas plus an introduction. He worked on the cycle over several decades. After finishing up through Act II of Siegfried, he put the project aside from 1858 until about 1870, during which time he wrote both Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger. The complete cycle was finished in 1874. The story comes, in a very general way, from the old Norse/Germanic legend of the Nibelungenlied ("The Song of the Dwarves"). I once tried to read a translation of the Nibelungenlied,but it had so little to do with Wagner's epic that I lost interest. Wagner had his own interests, and he wanted to invoke his ancestral legends and put them to use to say what he wanted to say, and what was on his mind was the relationship between love and earthly power, and themes of yearning and loss. Like J. R. R.

Tolkien, Wagner had an instinct for mythic storytelling, and so his very much invented story feels like something far older than it is. Neither Wagner nor Tolkien knew of Joseph Campbell, of course, but both their stories contain many of the same classic elements of the Hero Myth: Both center around a ring of power, and the attempts of various people to acquire it. In both, the ring carries with it a corrupting curse. Both feature an all-conquering sword which is broken and later reforged. Both involve a romantic partnership between a human hero-knight and a demigod female. Both involve a hero who fails and dies, but whose descendant, after a period of hiding in the wilderness, returns to fulfill the quest. Both feature a wise old man with a staff that is more than just a stick of wood. The main protagonist of the Ring is not Siegfried (who was famously compared once to Li'l Abner) but Wotan, the king of the Gods. Wotan is a man who wants power, and the story is about how he sought it and the price he ultimately paid.

He began his career (long before the story begins) when, as a young God, he cut a branch off the World Ash Tree, source of all wisdom and power, gave one eye in payment, and made from it a spear. Over the years Wotan increased his power by making treaties, which were inscribed on his spear as the embodiment of that power, until he made himself chief of all the Gods. And there Wagner's story begins... Das Rheingold The story begins in the depths of the Rhine river, where the three Rhinemaidens (think "mermaids") are playing in a state of primal state-of-nature innocence. Enter Alberich the Nibelung (dwarf) from a fissure beneath the earth, who spies the three and lusts after them. The Rhinemaidens taunt him and humiliate him for his ugliness and awkwardness. In his rage at being rejected, Alberich steals the Rhinegold from them, having learned that he who is willing to renounce love will thereby gain the ability to forge a ring of power from the gold.

The maidens had assumed that no one in his right mind would make such a renunciation, but Alberich is enraged and wants revenge. He disappears with the gold, leaving the bereft maidens to sing a song of loss and grief that will reappear all through the four operas. Alberich forges the ring and makes himself lord over all the Nibelungen. Meanwhile, Wotan wants a grand castle for the gods to live in as a testament to his greatness. He has contracted with the two giants Fasolt and Fafner to build him the castle. On the advice of the wily Loge, god of fire, Wotan has promised the Giants Freia, goddess of youth and beauty, in return for the building; Loge has assured Wotan that he will find him a way out of the deal. Fasolt and Fafner, having finished the castle, come for their payment. Wotan is stuck; since all his power rests on the treaties inscribed into his spear, he cannot renege on the deal, and the giants make off with the terrified Freia.

Loge, having learned of Alberich's ring, suggests to Wotan that they steal it from Alberich and offer it to the giants as a substitute payment. Wotan agrees, though he secretly plans to keep the ring for himself. The two go down into the earth to Nibelheim where the dwarves live. There Alberich has enslaved the dwarves and forced them to mine him an enormous pile of gold. Wotan and Loge succeed in kidnapping Alberich and take him back to the gods' abode on the mountain top. There they relieve Alberich of the hoard and of the ring. Alberich is as shattered by the loss of his ring as Gollum ever thought of being. He places on the ring a terrible curse, bringing endless misery to all who possess or seek it. Wotan and Loge offer the giants Alberich's hoard of gold in return for Freia. Fafner accepts, though Fasolt has by now become rather sweet on Freia and wants to keep her. The hoard is piled up, but Fafner wants one last thing: Alberich's ring, now on Wotan's finger.

Wotan refuses, the giants threaten to call off the deal and leave with Freia, and in the middle of the hubbub there appears out of the ground Erda ("earth"), goddess of the earth and the world's wisest woman. She warns Wotan to flee the ring's curse, foretells that a death-laden day is coming for the gods, and disappears. Wotan relents and gives the ring to the giants, who immediately fall to arguing about the division of the spoils. Fafner kills Fasolt on the spot, and goes off with the loot. The problem resolved for the time being, Wotan and the rest of the gods prepare to enter into the new castle, which Wotan dubs "Walhall"--literally, the "hall of the fallen heroes." Fricka, his wife, asks him the meaning of the name, and Wotan says, "If what I'm planning works out, its meaning will become clear to you." The gods enter Valhalla, as the Rhinemaidens sing a mournful song of loss.

Between the two operas What Wotan is planning, which doesn't become apparent until the next opera, is this, and it forms the driving notion of the entire plot: Because of his dependence on treaties, Wotan cannot himself take the ring back from Fafner; but if he can create a hero who is not dependent on him, who is not acting as Wotan's agent, that hero could slay Fafner and win the ring back for him. Wotan, always a great womanizer, descends to earth in human guise as "Wälse" and sires a pair of twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, on an earthly mother. He then abandons them to their fate, and starts paying visits to Erda the earth goddess. Erda bears him eight immortal daughters--the Valkyries (Walküre: "bearer of the fallen heroes").

Bearing in mind Erda's prediction of a final Armageddon of the Gods, Wotan instructs the Valkyries to roam the earth, inciting men to make war on each other so as to find the most valiant warriors, and when they fall in battle to carry them to Valhalla to abide with the Gods and (by the way) defend Valhalla in its eventual apocalyptic battle against Alberich's army. (The Valkyries are female, but they are warlike females. Not only that, Brünnhilde has to have a voice capable of outshouting a full Wagnerian orchestra for 4-plus hours. Hence the cliche of the massive armor-girt soprano with breastplates and horns.) Die Walküre A dark and stormy night (yes). Siegmund ("victorious") arrives exhausted and weaponless at the home of Hunding (literally, "son of a bitch"), where he is tended by Sieglinde, Hunding's wife.

(Hunding is a great character--a big, hulking brute whose entire life revolves around notions of kinship and warrior's honor.) Hunding recognizes Siegmund as his tribe's enemy, and tells him he can spend the night there, but Hunding intends to kill him in the morning. Left alone, Siegmund ruminates on his father Wälse, and his promise that Siegmund would find a magic sword in his hour of need. Sure enough, the sword is stuck in the ash tree that grows through Hunding's house; it has been there for years, and no one has been able to draw it forth. Sieglinde appears, and the two recognize both their kinship and their love for each other. Siegmund draws the sword, and he and Sieglinde run off together into the night. Back in Valhalla, Wotan's wife Fricka is furious. She is the goddess of hearth and family, and here is Sieglinde renouncing her marriage vows and running off with her own twin brother. She demands to Wotan that Siegmund must die in the coming fight.

Wotan explains that Siegmund is his only hope for a hero that will reclaim the ring for him. Fricka points out that, by giving Siegmund his sword, Wotan has taken away any claim Siegmund might have had to being a free agent, and therefore can't win the ring anyway. Wotan is trapped, and sadly agrees to Siegmund's death. He tells Brünnhilde to give the victory to Hunding. Brünnhilde is shocked that Wotan would turn against his cherished son, whom she too has loved from afar, but Wotan is firm and angrily orders Brünnhilde to do his bidding. Brünnhilde confronts Siegmund while Sieglinde lies asleep in exhaustion, and tells him he is about to die and be taken to Valhalla. Siegmund asks about Valhalla, and Brünnhilde describes it in glowing terms. Finally, Siegmund asks if Sieglinde will be there with him; Brünnhilde says no.

Siegmund says, "So greet for me Wotan and all the fallen heroes, for I will abide here." Torn by grief and moved by Siegmund's courage, Brünnhilde rebels against Wotan's will and assures Siegmund that she will protect him. At the moment of battle, Wotan appears and shatters the magic sword with his spear. Siegmund is killed. Brünnhilde gathers up Sieglinde and the shards of the sword, mounts her horse and flees. Act III opens with the famous "Ride of the Valkyries" as all eight gather on a mountain top with their load of fallen heroes preparatory to taking them to Valhalla. Brünnhilde appears with Sieglinde, in terror of the coming wrath of Wotan. To protect Sieglinde she sends her off with the shards of the sword to hide in the forest, telling her that she carries Siegmund's child. Wotan appears, threatening thundering destruction to all who shield Brünnhilde, and the Valkyries flee in terror.

In punishment for her disobedience, Wotan condemns her to sleep on a rock on a mountain top, to become the mortal bride of whatever man awakens her. As a consolation, he agrees to surround the rock with terrifying fire, so that only a man who knows no fear can reach her. Wotan has thus in short order been forced to renounce his two most beloved children--Siegmund and Brünnhilde. He is by now a very different person than the vigorous, ambitious God we first met. He knows now that he will from this point on be alone, and that he is powerless to keep Erda's predictions from coming true. From now on he is a spectator in the story's action. Siegfried In the forest, Sieglinde has been taken in by Mime the Nibelung, brother of Alberich. He knows the whole story and is only helping her in hopes of using the hero she is to bear to get the ring for himself. Sieglinde dies in childbirth, and Mime raises Siegfried to young manhood. Siegfried is a child of nature, totally uneducated and not even very bright, but strong and--literally--fearless.

He reforges his father's sword, and Mime takes him to Fafner to teach him about fear. Fafner has used the ring to turn himself into a dragon, where he sits in a cave and guards the Nibelung hoard. Mime brews up a cup of poison, which he plans to give to Siegfried as soon as he has slain Fafner. Siegfried kills Fafner (quite pitilessly; Fafner is not looking for trouble). Tasting of Fafner's blood, Siegfried finds he can understand the language of the birds, who tell him of the hoard and the ring and of Mime's treachery. Siegfried kills Mime. The birds then tell him of the woman lying asleep on a rock, and Siegfried sets off to find her. On the way, Siegfried comes across Wotan, now in the guise of a Wanderer. Wotan tries to bar Siegfried's way. Siegfried, in a reversal of the action in Die Walküre, breaks Wotan's spear with his sword. Wotan's power is broken, and he slinks off, not to be seen again in the opera cycle.

Siegfried climbs the mountain, strides through the magic fire, and awakens the sleeping Brünnhilde. (A note on Siegfried: He is a most unlikable character--arrogant, conscienceless, more than a little stupid, quite happy to slaughter people for the slightest of reasons, easily manipulated by other characters. My biggest problem with this story is that I simply can't fathom what Brünnhilde sees in the big lunk. He behaves so abominably that when he dies one is almost relieved.) Götterdammerung ("Twilight of the Gods") Siegfried takes his leave of Brünnhilde to seek adventure and heroic deeds. His travels down from the mountain top are described in the orchestral passage called "Siegfried's Rhine Journey." He ends up in the kingdom of the Gibichungs along the Rhine. The Gibichungs are a gloomy and none too bright bunch, where king Gunther is advised and controlled by Hagen, Alberich's son by a human woman. They hail Siegfried as a great hero, and Siegfried in his naiveté swears blood-brotherhood with Gunther.

Hagen slips Siegfried a potion that makes him forget Brünnhilde and fall in love with Gutrune, Gunther's sister. Siegfried proposes to Gutrune and then, when told about Brünnhilde on her rock, agrees to capture her to be Gunther's wife. As Brünnhilde sits on her rock, she is visited by one of the other Valkyries. It seems that Wotan came home one day from his travels with his spear in two pieces. He instructed that kindling be piled all around Valhalla, and sent two ravens out into the world as messengers. Since then he sits, the fallen heroes ranged around him in the great hall, waiting for the ravens to return and signal the end of the Gods. She asks Brünnhilde to help, but Brünnhilde says she is now a mortal woman with the love of a mortal man and is no longer concerned with the fate of the Gods. After the Valkyrie leaves, Siegfried shows up disguised as Gunther and carries Brünnhilde most unwillingly off to the Gibichungs. The double wedding is planned amidst great merriment.

Hagen's plan is to kill Siegfried on a hunting trip and claim the ring. While on the hunting trip, Siegfried passes by the Rhine and encounters the three Rhinemaidens, who chide him as the foolish child he is, and warn him that his life is in danger. Siegfried, ever confident, laughs at their warning, and Hagen duly slays him with a spear in the back. There follows the other great orchestral passage of this opera, "Siegfried's Funeral March." Back at the Gibichungs there is much acrimony, as Gutrune has been done out of a husband and Gunther out of a blood-brother. Hagen claims the ring on Siegfried's dead hand and moves to take it. At that moment Brünnhilde appears. This is the "Immolation Scene," the longest single aria in the operatic literature. Brünnhilde orders Siegfried's body placed on a funeral pyre. She takes the ring from his finger in preparation to giving it back to the Rhine and thus cleansing the earth of the curse at last. The funeral pyre is lit, and Brünnhilde rides onto it on her horse.

The fire consumes all, and the Rhine rises to flood the room. Hagen cries, "The ring is mine!" but is dragged to his death by the Rhinemaidens, who reclaim their gold at last. In the distance, Valhalla can be seen to be burning. The orchestra in these last moments plays a wonderful melange of the motives Valhalla, Magic Fire, and Redemption By Love, as the curtain falls. Brief Summary of the Ring A Brief Synopsis of Der Ring des Nibelungen Background (from Alan Blyth's Wagner's Ring: An introduction, 4-5). "In November 1851, Wagner drafted a first scenario for Das Rheingold, projected in three acts, with the title The Rape of the Rheingold. Then came a tentative sketch for Die Walkure, or at least two acts of it... by December 1852 he was able to write at the end of his huge manuscript: 'Close of the stage-festival play'. By now he had come to see that no known stage could present his vast work adequately: a specially built festival theatre would be required." "So, by 1853 Wagner was at last ready to begin composing the music.

For this he began at the beginning with Das Rheingold, now reduced from three acts to one. That work took him...six months. Die Walkure was begun in the summer of 1854 and completed in the spring of 1856, when Siegfried was started. The first two acts took him from September that year until July 1857. Then came the big break during which he wrote Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger no less, before he resumed work on Siegfried in March 1869. Gotterdammerung was begun in the autumn of that year and completed on 21 November 1874." Plot Summaries of the Four Operas of the Ring Cycle 1. Das Rheingold: "Rhinegold" The first act of this first opera begins with a scene in which a dwarf named Alberich seizes the gold of the Rhinemaidens. Alberich denounces love in order to gain possession of the magic ring which gives its wearer ultimate power. This scene sets up the Ring as the most desireable object in the world, and thus it establishes the fundamental intrigue that lasts throughout the entire cycle of the Ring.

Rhinegold is the story of the gods, possibly more so than the rest of the operas. One learns of the suffering of Wotan and the problems the gods have in repaying Fafner and Fasolt, the giants who built Valhalla. Since Wagner created Rhinegold to be the "Prelude" to the Ring, this opera perhaps is not as "free-standing" as the other works. Nevertheless, Rhinegold introduces "the main lines of The Ring's dramatic conflict" and "many of the cycle's main musical ideas" (Blyth, 29). 2. Die Walkure: "The Valkyries" Brunnhilde and her father Wotan respectively struggle with their pride in order to decide the ultimate destiny of mortals. The Valkyries deals with the deep, but difficult relationship between gods and mortals. These gods also play games with one another, picking favorites and taking sides. Nobleness, especially in love, seems to come second to oaths--the divine promises--of the gods. Siegmund, the mortal hero, essentially dies because his father, Wotan, is under obligation to obey his lawful wife, Fricka. 3.

Siegfried "Siegfried is often called the Scherzo of The Ring, suggesting that it is the lightest of the four dramas..." (Blyth, 83). It is the story of a hero, Siegfried, and how he grows into manhood to discover fear and love. Raised by the Nibelung Mime, Siegfried is young, innocent and cocky. With the help of a mysterious Wanderer (who is really Wotan in disguise), Siegfried finds the pieces of his father's sword, Notung, reforges them and uses the instrument to kill the dragon Fafner who guards the hoard of Nibelung gold that formerly belonged to the Rhinemaidens. As a result of his killing of Fafner, Siegfried comes into possession of Alberich's cursed ring. But, Siegfried faces his ultimate challenge when he follows a birdsong to find the sleeping Brunnhilde whom fate has destined Siegfried to awaken and fall in love with. At the end of the opera, Siegfried gives the Ring to Brunnhilde to prove and symbolize his oath of love and fidelity to her. 4.

Gotterdammerung: "The Twilight of the Gods" An ambiance of doom overabides The Twilight of the Gods. Wotan and the rest of the cycle's characters face the consequences of the choices they made throughout the stories of the first three operas. As predicted by the three Norns in the "Prelude" to this opera, the Nibelung Alberich's curse upon the Ring proves to be prophetic. Everyone who comes into possession of it is ultimately destroyed. Although Wotan's disempowerment was foreshadowed in Siegfried by the breaking of his spear by Siegfried, the doomed fate of the gods and their All-Father Wotan is sealed when Alberich's evil son, Hagen dupes and cruelly murders the brave mortal hero Siegfried. Thus, The Twilight of the Gods , which is "a panorama of love and betrayal, good and evil, subconscious and overt events, grand, pictorial and private, intimate scenes" is "the climax of the whole Ring cycle" and "shows Wagner at zenith of his powers" (Blyth, 115).

The Ring Cycle | Opera Australia Opera Australia WAGNER The Ring Cycle Opera Australia's largest and most ambitious production returned to Melbourne in 2016. Wagner's Ring Cycle, directed by Neil Armfield and conducted by Pietari Inkinen , was performed three times at Arts Centre Melbourne between 21 November and 16 December 2016. The epic 16-hour story follows the rise and fall of gods and humans, dragons and dwarves, giants and valkyries, set to Wagner’s unforgettable score. "The verdict was pretty much unanimous: this was one of the best Rings anywhere in a long time." Classical Voice America Lise Lindstrom sang her first full Ring Cycle as Brünnhilde and some wonderful Australian singers made their role debuts, including Bradley Daley as Siegmund. Stefan Vinke returned with his phenomenal performance as Siegfried and Daniel Sumegi , Jacqueline Dark , and Warwick Fyfe reprised their outstanding interpretations. Das Rheingold The Ring Cycle opens with this magnificent prelude. The struggle for power and wealth in Das Rheingold irrevocably alters the order of the universe and determines the course of the entire saga.

Die Walküre The second opera in The Ring Cycle holds special appeal for audiences with its dramatic power and remarkable music, including the famous ‘Ride of the Valkyries’. After Das Rheingold’s rarefied realm of gods, monsters, and nature spirits, in Die Walküre Wagner plunges headlong into the highly emotional world of humanity. Siegfried The Ring Cycle’s third part is intensely focused on the fortunes of a single figure. Siegfried charts the rise of the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde into the greatest hero of the age. Götterdämmerung The Ring Cycle reaches its devastating finale in Götterdämmerung’s tale of treachery and destruction. All seems lost after naked ambition betrays love, and villains outsmart heroes. The Ring Cycle : Houston Grand Opera Calendar Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen A narrative told over the course of four operas, Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungs) is one of the supreme achievements in the history of human imagination.

The largest single artistic project in the history of HGO began in the 2013-14 season with Das Rheingold, and continues with one opera per season through the spring of 2017. The HGO Orchestra, under the direction of Patrick Summers, has evolved over the last fifteen years into a world-class ensemble able to take on the challenge of performing Wagner’s demanding score. Das Rheingold Learn More A Supreme Achievement “Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is the most gigantic work of art ever created. More than just a set of four operas, it is an experience that mirrors our own relationship to the world at every level: intellectual, emotional, natural, organic, material. At whatever point you intersect with the Ring, you will find an extraordinary level of depth. Its exceptional demands are among the greatest ever created in Western art.

So for HGO to deliver the Ring cycle to its public is something I’m tremendously excited about doing for the first time.” —HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers Die Walküre Learn More The Story Composed between 1848 and 1874 and based loosely on characters from Norse sagas and the medieval epic, the Nibelungenlied, the Ring operas follow the struggles of the gods and multiple generations of humans over the eponymous magic ring, which grants the power to rule the world. The cycle begins with the creation of the world, and ends with its destruction. Siegfried 02:00 PM A Re-Imagining HGO’s production of the Ring was originally created in 2007-2008 for the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, Spain by the Catalan theater company La Fura dels Baus. La Fura’s futuristic production is directed by Carlus Padrissa. It combines stunning mobile 3D computer projections with groups of acrobats. The video component of the production, which evokes the science fiction films of Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott, was created by filmmaker Franc Aleu.

This re-imagining of Wagner’s work tells the story with clarity for a modern audience, while emphasizing its timeless themes of destructive ambition and exploitation of the natural world. This forward-looking Ring is especially appropriate for Houston, a fast-growing, dynamic twenty-first century city. Götterdämmerung GP at the Met: Wagner's Ring Cycle | About the Opera | Great Performances | PBS GP at the Met: Wagner’s Ring Cycle About the Opera Premiere date: September 10, 2012 | 0:00:30 Robert Lepage’s acclaimed new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, will air on Great Performances at the Met, September 11-14 in primetime each night on PBS stations ( check local listings ), as a major television event. The operas – Das Rheingold, Die Walkűre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung — will be preceded on Monday, September 10 at 9 p.m. ( check local listings ) by the airing of award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke’s documentary Wagner’s Dream,which chronicles the backstage story of the creation of this ambitious new staging.

(In New York, THIRTEEN will air the programs at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 p.m. on Friday.) This is only the third time a complete Ring cycle has been aired on PBS. In 1983, Great Performances aired Patrice Chereau’s production of the Ring conducted by Pierre Boulez from the Bayreuth Festival, and in 1990, Live from the Met (the precursor of Great Performances at the Met) presented Otto Schenk’s Metropolitan Opera production, conducted by James Levine. Both the operas and the documentary will be screened in movie theaters throughout the U.S. and Canada this spring and summer , and in more than 20 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Deborah Voigt in the role of Brünnhilde Wagner’s Dream A documentary by Susan Froemke (PBS: Monday, September 10, 9 p.m.) The stakes could not be higher as visionary director Robert Lepage, some of the world’s greatest operatic artists, and the Metropolitan Opera tackle Wagner’s Ring cycle. An intimate look at the enormous theatrical and musical challenges of staging opera’s most monumental work, the film chronicles the quest to fulfill Wagner’s dream of a perfect Ring.

“A highly entertaining outing for operaphiles and operaphobes alike” (Variety) Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) (PBS: Tuesday, September 11, 9 p.m.) Conducted by James Levine Starring Wendy Bryn Harmer (Freia), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Patricia Bardon (Erda), Richard Croft (Loge), Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Bryn Terfel (Wotan), Eric Owens (Alberich), Franz-Josef Selig (Fasolt), Hans-Peter König (Fafner) In the first opera in the Ring cycle, the gods of Valhalla clash with underworld dwarves and brawny giants, with disastrous consequences. The evil Alberich steals gold from the Rhine and uses it to forge a ring of unimaginable power. Wotan, the king of the gods, uses magic to steal the ring, but Alberich places a curse that guarantees misery for whoever wears it.

Wotan’s unwillingness to part with the ring leads him to break a contract with the giants who have built the gods’ new castle in the sky, setting in motion a chain of events that will end in his own destruction. “A triumph, at once subtle and spectacular, intimate and epic.” (The Telegraph) Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) (PBS: Wednesday, September 12, 9 p.m.) Conducted by James Levine Starring Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Jonas Kaufmann (Siegmund), Bryn Terfel (Wotan), Hans-Peter König (Hunding) The mysterious hero Siegmund finds shelter in the strangely familiar arms of a lonely woman named Sieglinde. Their forbidden love leads Wotan’s daughter, the warrior maiden Brünnhilde, to defy morality and intervene on behalf of the hero. Brünnhilde’s transgression forces her father to choose between his love for his favorite daughter and his duty to his wife, the formidable goddess Fricka.

Overcome with grief, Wotan takes away Brünnhilde’s godlike powers and puts her to sleep on a mountaintop, surrounded by a ring of magic fire that can only be crossed by the bravest of heroes. “Die Walküre enthralls.” (The Huffington Post)

Question: What is the name of the first opera in Wagner's four opera Ring Cycle?
Answer: Das Rheingold